Association of Carotid Plaque Morphology and Glycemic and Lipid Parameters in the Northern Manhattan Study.

Low Gray-Scale Median (GSM) index is an ultrasonographic parameter of soft, lipid rich plaque morphology that has been associated with stroke and cardiovascular disease (CVD). We sought to explore the contribution of the modifiable and not-modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (RFs) to vulnerable plaque morphology measured by the low GSM index. A total of 1,030 stroke-free community dwelling individuals with carotid plaques present (mean age, 71.

Risk of neurological, eye and ear disease in offspring to parents with schizophrenia or depression compared with offspring to healthy parents.

Background: Neurological, visual and hearing deviations have been observed in the offspring of parents with schizophrenia. This study test whether children to parents hospitalized with schizophrenia have increased the likelihood of childhood neurological disorder.

Methods: Among all parents in Sweden born 1950-1985 and with offspring born 1968-2002: 7107 children with a parent hospitalized for schizophrenia were compared to 172 982 children with no parents hospitalized for schizophrenia or major depression, as well as to 32 494 children with a parent hospitalized for major depression as a control population with another severe psychiatric outcome.

Physical activity level in people with age related white matter changes correlates to better motor performance, lower comorbidity and higher cognitive level.

Background: Physical activity plays a pivotal role in the development of disability and may modify the negative effect of vascular risk factors on progression of both cardio and cerebrovascular disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the activity level in people with age-related white matter changes as identified on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in relation to motor performance, cognition and perceived health.

Methods: Data came from the first year follow up of one participating centers of the LADIS study.

Nutritional assessment and post-procedural complications in older stroke patients after insertion of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy - a retrospective study.

Background: Oropharyngeal dysphagia is one of the major complications of stroke and a risk factor for malnutrition and prolonged in-hospital stay.

Objective: The overall aim was to describe to what extent nutritional assessments (i.e.

Cigarette Smoking and Carotid Plaque Echodensity in the Northern Manhattan Study.

Background: We sought to determine the association between cigarette smoking and carotid plaque ultrasound morphology in a multiethnic cohort.

Methods: We analyzed 1,743 stroke-free participants (mean age 65.5 ± 8.

The relationship between carotid intima-media thickness and carotid plaque in the Northern Manhattan Study.

Objective: Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and carotid plaque (CP) are proposed biomarkers of subclinical atherosclerosis associated with stroke risk. Whether cIMT and CP are distinct phenotypes or single traits at different stages of atherosclerotic development is unclear. We explored the relationship between these markers in the population-based Northern Manhattan Study.

High-density lipoprotein subfractions and carotid plaque: the Northern Manhattan Study.

Objective: The objective of this cross-sectional analysis was to investigate the relation between two major high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) subfractions (HDL2-C and HDL3-C) and carotid plaque in a population based cohort.

Methods: We evaluated 988 stroke-free participants (mean age 66 ± 8 years; 40% men; 66% Hispanic and 34% Non-Hispanic) with available data on HDL subfractions using precipitation method and carotid plaque area and thickness assessed by a high-resolution 2D ultrasound. The associations between HDL-C subfractions and plaque measurements were analyzed by quantile regression.

Rosuvastatin inhibits TIMP-2 and promotes myocardial angiogenesis.

Background: Angiogenesis is usually driven by inflammation. Matrix metalloproteinases MMP-3 and MMP-9 and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 are implicated in vascular remodeling. TIMP-2 exhibits antiangiogenic properties.

Relationship between oxidized LDL, IgM, and IgG autoantibodies to ox-LDL levels with recurrent cardiovascular events in Swedish patients with previous myocardial infarction.

We determined whether plasma levels of circulating oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL; E06), immunoglobulin (Ig) G, and IgM autoantibodies binding to malonyldialdehyde-modified LDL (MDA-LDL) may predict cardiovascular events (CVEs). Patients (n=123) with a previous myocardial infarction (MI) were included. The primary end point was defined as any of the following: cardiovascular death from any cause, nonfatal reinfarction or stroke, percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass grafting, and hospitalization due to angina pectoris.

Shape abnormalities of the caudate nucleus correlate with poorer gait and balance: results from a subset of the LADIS study.

Objective: Functional deficits seen in several neurodegenerative disorders have been linked with dysfunction in frontostriatal circuits and with associated shape alterations in striatal structures. The severity of visible white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) on magnetic resonance imaging has been found to correlate with poorer performance on measures of gait and balance. This study aimed to determine whether striatal volume and shape changes were correlated with gait dysfunction.

Executive dysfunction correlates with caudate nucleus atrophy in patients with white matter changes on MRI: a subset of LADIS.

White matter changes (WMC) are common magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, particularly in the elderly. Recent studies such as the Leukoaraiosis and Disability Study (LADIS) have found that WMC relate to adverse outcomes including cognitive impairment, depression, disability, unsteadiness and falls in cross-sectional and follow-up studies. Frontostriatal (or frontosubcortical) brain circuits may serve many of these functions, with the caudate nuclei playing a role in convergence of cognitive functions.

Women with anorexia nervosa should not be treated with estrogen or birth control pills in a bone-sparing effect.

Eating disorders are prevalent, serious conditions that affect mainly young women. An early and enduring sign of anorexia is amenorrhea. There is no evidence for benefits of hormone therapy in patients with anorexia; however, hormone medication and oral contraceptives are frequently prescribed for young women with anorexia as a prevention against and treatment for low bone mineral density.

Serum adiponectin in relation to race-ethnicity and vascular risk factors in the Northern Manhattan Study.

Background: Population-based data on serum adiponectin levels, an adipocytokine secreted from adipose tissue, are lacking, particularly across race-ethnic groups. Studies have suggested an inverse association between adiponectin and vascular risk factors, but data are limited and inconsistent. We examined the cross-sectional association between adiponectin, vascular risk factors and race-ethnicity in the population-based Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS).

Cerebrovascular diseases and depression: epidemiology, mechanisms and treatment.

Both cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and depression are common conditions in the elderly, and there is emerging evidence of a bi-directional relationship: 1) depression can cause CVD and stroke, transient ischemic attack; and 2) subcortical CVD are associated with increased risk for depression. The frequency of poststroke depression is highest during the first month after the stroke, but remains high even after several years. Depression is associated with poorer functional prognosis and higher mortality after stroke.

Adiponectin and carotid intima-media thickness in the northern Manhattan study.

Background And Purpose: Adiponectin is an insulin-sensitizing plasma protein expressed in adipose tissue and suggested to play a role in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Data are lacking on the relationship between adiponectin and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in ethnically heterogeneous populations. We examined the relationship between adiponectin and IMT, a marker of atherosclerosis, in a multiethnic cohort study of stroke risk factors.

Rosuvastatin reduces microglia in the brain of wild type and ApoE knockout mice on a high cholesterol diet; implications for prevention of stroke and AD.

We have previously shown that a high cholesterol (HC) diet results in increases in microglia load and levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the brains of wild type (WT) and apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE-/-) mice. In the present investigation, we analyzed whether treatment with rosuvastatin, an inhibitor of the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, would prevent the increases in inflammatory microglia and IL-6 levels in the brain and plasma of WT and ApoE-/- mice. We report that a HC diet resulted in an increased microglia load in the brains of WT and ApoE-/- mice, in support of our previous study.

Low levels of high density lipoprotein increase the severity of cerebral white matter changes: implications for prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases.

Background And Purpose: Cerebral White matter changes (WMC) are a frequent finding on CT and MRI scans of elderly individuals, particularly in those with vascular risk factors, cerberovascular disease, and cognitive impairment.

Methods: 56 subjects were included in the study after the review of reports of more than 200 consecutive brain Computerized Tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations from the out-patient and in-patient units of the Department of Geriatric Medicine at Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge during 2001-2002. MRI was performed using a 1.

Platelet alpha- and beta- secretase activities are not significantly affected by dementia or mild cognitive impairment in Swedish patients.

The processing of the Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) is a critical event in the formation of amyloid plaques which are composed of the 4kDa amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta). Processing of APP occurs through a non-amyloidogenic pathway, mediated by initial alpha-secretase cleavage or through an amyloidogenic pathway via sequential cleavage by beta- and gamma-secretase enzymes, which produces Abeta peptides. Currently, the diagnosis of probable or possible Alzheimer's disease (AD) is primarily based on neuropsychological and neuroradiological assessment.

Circulating levels of autoantibodies to oxidized low-density lipoprotein and C-reactive protein levels correlate with endothelial function in resistance arteries in men with coronary heart disease.

The association between C-reactive protein (CRP) and future cardiovascular risk has been of particular interest during recent years. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) is another marker linking the immune system with the atherogenic process. The aim of this study was to examine whether ox-LDL and CRP were associated with endothelial function in peripheral resistance arteries.

Urinary complaints in nondisabled elderly people with age-related white matter changes: the Leukoaraiosis And DISability (LADIS) Study.

Objectives: To investigate, in a cohort of nondisabled elderly people, the association between urinary complaints and severity of age-related white matter changes (ARWMC).

Design: Cross-sectional data analysis from a longitudinal multinational study.

Setting: The Leukoaraiosis And DISability Study, assessing ARWMC as an independent predictor of the transition from functional autonomy to disability in elderly subjects.

Regulation of alpha- and beta-secretase activity by oxysterols: cerebrosterol stimulates processing of APP via the alpha-secretase pathway.

The cholesterol 24-hydroxylase encoded by the gene CYP46 is expressed almost exclusively in central nervous system (CNS) neurons and catalyzes the formation of 24S-hydroxycholesterol (24S-OHC) from cholesterol. This conversion corresponds to a major pathway for excretion of excess cholesterol from the brain. There is a significant flux of another oxysterol, 27-hydroxycholesterol (27-OHC) from the circulation into the brain.